This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for destroying hidden land mines.
For clearing mine barriers and mine fields expensive and tire consuming operations are needed. Particular problems are involved with the clearing of plastic mines having a small metal proportion. Such mines, as a rule, may be located only with special mine sondes and are subsequently often eliminated by using explosive cartridges.
It is a disadvantage of the above-noted conventional method that for clearing the mines explosives have to be used which involves an additional safety hazard for the personnel performing the mine clearing.
German Patent No. 37 00 385 discloses a deliberate destruction of sea mines by directing a number of superposed shock waves of relatively small intensity to the previously determined location of the mine. It is a disadvantage of this method--which has been derived from medical applications--that the position of the mine to be destroyed must be known with accuracy. This, however, is, as a rule, not feasible in case of hidden land mines.